Charleston

Charleston is the oldest and second-largest city in the US state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and a major Atlantic port. The city was founded by settlers from England in 1670, and it was named for King Charles II of England; it was not incorporated until 1783, by which time the city had already been the site of two American Revolutionary War battles. The city was one of the nation's ten largest cities through the 1840 census, and it was the only US city to have a majority-enslaved population. The city was burned down by the Confederate States Army during the twilight days of the American Civil War, but the demand for its cash crops and industrialization led to its revival during Reconstruction. In 2015, the Charleston metro area had a population of 744,526 people.